Posted: January 5, 2025

Families of Shortreed,

We hope you had a wonderful 2 weeks with family and friends and enjoyed celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, and/or Kwanzaa.

We look forward to seeing the Shortreed kids and families and working to get back into our learning and school routines.

Your child was sent home with their Student Inclusive Conference report for term 1 on the Friday before the break. These will also be uploaded to MyED parent portal soon.

Thank you to our PAC Elves, who, after sneaking into the school on November 30 to decorate, sneaked back in tonight to clean it all up… with a “bonus time to connect” outside while they waited for the principal to let them in (after he forgot to show up!!!).

For those who have children turning 5 in 2025, you can register your child for Kindergarten online starting tomorrow. For more registration information, click here. If you need help, please call the school or email Mrs. Stoddart.

Kindergarten Registration 2025 – Kindergarten registration across the Langley School District runs January 6, 2025 – February 18, 2025. If your child will be five years old by December 31, 2025, you will be able to register your child online. Information about required documents and instructions is available online and will also be posted on catchment school websites in January. For information, please visit the District webpage here. To learn more about Kindergarten in the Langley School District, read our brochure here. If you need help or would prefer to bring in your documents in person, please call the school. 

Outside of kindergarten registration, it is a relatively quiet week with no school-wide events. Grade 5 basketball moves to 2 practices per week on Tuesdays and Fridays from 7:45-8:45. Players are still welcome to come, but this is the last week they can join.

As always, we want to acknowledge that we do our important work to ensure every child belongs on the unceded ancestral territories of the Màthxwi (Matsqui) First Nation. We acknowledge this to honour the land and the people and share our commitment to learning on our journey for Truth and Reconciliation. A new year brings a new opportunity for reflection, focus, and learning. Learning more about the truth of the past helps us understand what is needed for the future. I recently started watching the National Geographic documentary “Sugarcane” on Disney Plus. It is an in-depth look at St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School in Williams Lake. It is a difficult one to watch, but it helps to understand the harsh realities students and families faced (and continue to deal with) because of residential schools. This is not something you watch with your children but is something that we, as adults, can and should watch on our journey. Every child and family deserves a safe and caring school. 

In the week leading into the break, we had a number of “good things” that our community was able to participate in.

Our Christmas concerts were a huge success once again! We had 3 outstanding shows and the students used this opportunity to shine and flourish on stage in front of a packed gym. Thank you to everyone who could come and support the students on stage. Thank you to staff for ALL their support behind the scenes and leading up to the concerts… and thank you to Mrs. Muller for passion and commitment to our school!

A few of our “talented” Staff Carollers sang outside on the Friday morning before the break. We sang carols and even attempted to keep them beat with some percussion instruments. Thank you to everyone who sang along with us.

We had our annual Shortreed Christmas Sing-Along on Friday afternoon in the gym. Staff led the singing, and the entire school joined in as we gathered one last time in 2024. Old Man Wejr, a “relative of Mr. Wejr” made his annual appearance and read the story, Santa’s First Christmas to the school.

Our PAC treated our entire school to milk and cookies on Friday as well. Thank you, PAC and all those who support our PAC through various means. Thank you to Aldergrove Save-on-Foods for their support with this!

Christmas cards that Shortreed students made were distributed to various senior residences that week. Thank you to all those classes who participated and to Mrs. Kirk and Mostat for their efforts with this.

Dancers from Kick It Up A Notch Academy of Dance were scheduled to perform Christmas dances for the seniors at Jackman Manor on the Thursday before the break but were not able to do this due to concerns of the flu at Jackman. They pivoted and offered to perform for many classes (optional for classes to attend) in our gym instead. The dance groups feature many current and former Shortreed students, so seeing them shine on stage again was great for our students and staff.

The Week Ahead

Monday – Schools re-open, Kindergarten registration opens
Tuesday – Gr. 5 Basketball 7:45
Friday – Gr. 5 Basketball 7:45

Month at a Glance:

Tuesday, January 14 – Gr. 5 Basketball 7:45am; PAC Meeting 7pm
Wednesday, January 15 – PAC Hot Lunch – A&W
Friday, January 17 – Gr. 5 Basketball 7:45am
Monday, January 20 – Gr. 5 Basketball 7:45am
Friday, January 24 – Gr. 5 Basketball 7:45am
Wednesday, January 29 – PAC Popcorn Day, Lunar New Year begins
Thursday, February 6 – Lockdown Drill 10am

Information and Reminders

• If your child is between age 6 and 9, the Government of British Columbia is pleased to inform you that your child may be able to receive the $1,200 B.C. Training and Education Savings Grant.
• Extended Absences: due to enrollment pressures in Langley Schools, if a student is absent for 25 or more consecutive days (and not due to medical reasons), they could possibly lose their space in the class and/or in the school. Once they return, they could be placed on a waitlist. If you are planning on having your child be absent for an extended trip, please contact your child’s teacher at least 3 weeks before you leave. 

• Information About School Status During Inclement Weather

  Snow closures and power outages are an annual occurrence in the Langley School District. So, where do you go to get information about the status of schools during periods of inclement weather? If you are able to access the internet via computer or smartphone, current information about Langley schools can be accessed on all school websites or www.sd35.bc.ca. Updates are also posted to X (formerly Twitter) @LangleySchools and Facebook at www.facebook.com/langleyschooldistrict. If you don’t have internet connectivity but your phone is working, call a relative or friend in an area that has not been affected by the storm and ask them to check the district website for you. Local radio stations are also informed of school status in Langley. Tune in to CKWX 1130AM, CKNW 980AM, Country Radio 107.1FM, Pulse 107.7 or CBC 690AM or 88.1FM for updates.

  Please note that Langley District schools are all considered ‘open’ until a decision to close is required. Decisions on school closures are usually made by 6:30am. As always, it is a parent’s decision whether to send their child to school based on safety and individual circumstances. If you feel it is unsafe for you or your child to travel to or attend an open school for any reason, please keep your child home and report an absence to the school.

• Strive for FIVE Days (or Less) – Attendance is crucial to your child’s learning as it helps with academics, social-emotional well-being, and peer connections. We understand children get sick, but please send them to school as many days as possible and strive for FIVE or fewer!

• Attendance/Absence – If your child is going to be absent, arriving late, away or leaving early due to an appointment, please notify the school of your child’s absence by emailing SCEAttendance@sd35.bc.ca or calling 604-856-4167 and state the following information:

  • Student First Name and Last Name
  • Grade
  • Division
  • Length of Absence
  • Reason (illness, late, appointment, vacation)
• If your family needs support for breakfast before school, our breakfast program runs from 8:20-8:35 each day. Students must register and come every school day. You can register here.
• Our school parking lot is closed between 8:15-9:00 and 2:00-2:45 (other than daycare, buses, and vehicles for people with a disability). The church across the street graciously allows us to use their parking lot for pick-up and drop-off so please park there or along 28th Ave. Do not park in the “no parking” (coned) areas along the yellow curbs. No u-turns.
• West Coast Recess – As we have done over the past few years, every day is an outside day at Shortreed. Unless there is a severe rainstorm (or snowstorm), we will be heading outside. Please make sure your child has a coat to wear outside. We have a good selection of coats in our FREE Coat Exchange near the office, so come by and check them out.
• Please bring inside shoes for your child. This helps to keep our school clean and dry. If you need some help with shoes, check out our FREE Shoe and Boot Exchange at the office.

PAC Info

Community Events and Information

Be sure to check out the Langley School District’s community bulletin board here.

Evening Strong Start Session

Please come and join us for an evening of fun, play and learning at our January Evening Strong Start session.  Parents and preschool aged children are invited to join us for this parent participation program.

Date: Wednesday, January 15

Time: 5:00 – 6:30

Location: Parkside Strong Start Room

Theme: Small World Play

Light dinner will be served.

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Clothes 2 U Event!

FREE STUFF ALERT from facebook.com/clothes2ubcsociety Score big on Jan.18th at St. Dunstan’s Church, 3025-264 St. Aldergrove. • Clothes for baby to adult • Toys • Diapers, incontinence and personal items • Linens, and Smaller household things TAKE AS MUCH AS YOU NEED from 10 AM to 11:30 AM $5 cash entry (kids 10 & under FREE!

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FREE for Langley parents and caregivers – Register here.